DURHAM, N.C. - Dukes doubles team of senior Mary Clayton and sophomore Ester Goldfeld cruised past the No. 3 doubles pair in the nation from William & Mary to lead the third-ranked Blue Devils women's tennis team past Tribe, 7-0, Saturday at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center. The Blue Devils have now tallied a 16-0 record in home openers under head coach Jamie Ashworth, and have only dropped one set so far in 2013.

"I was really happy with our doubles, specifically how we came out in doubles," Ashworth said. "Before the match we talked about having a lot of energy, a lot of purpose in every shot we hit. Not to hit shots just to hit shots, but everything we do has a plan and a purpose, and play with passion. If we can do those three things, and build on those three things the rest of the season then we take the results that we can get."

The Blue Devils came out with that energy in all three doubles matches, taking 3-0 leads on all courts. The doubles lineup was highlighted by the matchup between the duo of Clayton and Goldfeld and the third-ranked team of Maria Belaya and Jeltje Loomans. Clayton and Goldfeld came out of the gates as the aggressor, winning the first three games against the highly touted team from William & Mary, but found themselves down 40-0 in the fourth game. Clayton and Goldfeld were able to come back and tie the game at 40-40, before winning the next point to take the game and go up 4-0, dissipating any momentum the Tribe duo may have gained. Clayton and Goldfeld were able to continue their solid play, and cruised past Belaya and Loomans, 8-1.

"Duke played extremely well," said William & Mary head coach Tyler Thomson. "[They are a] very disciplined team. Very focused, and they are tough. We have things that we feel we can do better, but credit goes to Duke, they are a very good team."

Playing in the second doubles position, the tandem of sophomore Annie Mulholland and junior Marianne Jodoin followed closely behind and cruised past Anik Cepeda and Leeza Nemchinov, 8-2, thereby clinching the doubles point for the Blue Devils. The team of junior Hanna Mar and sophomore Monica Turewicz took an early 5-1 lead over Hope Johnson and Sydney Smith, but the match was left unfinished after Mulholland and Jodoin closed out their match.

In singles play, Mulholland cruised past Cepeda, 6-0, 6-2 in the fourth spot to take the first singles point, while Turewicz continued her strong play in just her third match back since the NCAA Tournament last spring to dominate Smith, 6-0, 6-2, at the number six spot.

Mar, the 10th ranked player in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings, broke serve three consecutive times to open the match in the No. 1 spot. Mar cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 win over Maria Belaya, putting the Blue Devils up 4-0 and clinching the match.

In the fifth position, No. 63 Jodoin won six consecutive games after dropping the first game in the opening set to down Johnson, 6-1, 6-2, while No. 53 Clayton overcame a 2-0 deficit in the first set to top Loomas, 6-3, 6-2, on the second court and put the Blue Devils up 6-0 over the Tribe.

In the final match of the day, No. 40 Ester Goldfeld exchanged the first four games with Nemchinov in the third spot dropping the next two to find herself down 4-2. Showing the resilience that she showed in her three set win at the Hawaii Invitational, Goldfeld battled back to win the first set 7-5, and carried that momentum to win the match, 7-5, 6-4.

"The more we can play against outside competition, the better," Ashworth said. "We have a little bit more depth than they do, and talent-wise we are better, so if we do those things that we talked about and play with energy than a match like that we should win, and we should take care of what we are supposed to and we were able to do that."

The Blue Devils are next slated to take to the courts at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend Jan. 26-27. Duke is set to face Wisconsin Jan. 26 at 10 a.m.